All students must earn a C or above in English 101 and English 102.
PREREQUISITES:
A C or above in English 101 is a prerequisite for English 102.
A C or above in English 102 is a prerequisite for all 200 and higher
level English courses.
One sophomore survey course (English 275, 276, 287, or 288) is a prerequisite
for all upper-level literature classes.
ENGL 101 Composition. (3)
Students gain experience in various types of writing. A research paper
is required. Revising and editing skills are taught. F, S, Su.
ENGL 101B Composition. (English as a Second
Language). (3)
A variation of English 101 for students who speak English as a second
language. F.
ENGL 102 Composition and Literature. (3)
(Prereq: Completion of English 101 or 101B with a C or above). Students
read and analyze short stories, poems, and plays. Writing assignments
include literary analyses and one research paper. Revising and editing
skills are taught. F, S, Su.
ENGL 102B Composition and Literature.
(English as a Second Language). (3)
(Prereq: Completion of an English 101 course with a grade of C or above).
A variation of English 102 for students who speak English as a second
language. S.
ENGL 201 Introduction to Creative Writing.
(3)
This course introduces the fundamental elements of craft involved in composing
poetry, fiction, creative nonfiction and drama using a combination of
example readings and writing workshops. Students are encouraged, though
not required, to complete a college-level literature course before enrolling
in ENGL 201.
ENGL 205 Literature and Culture. (3)
This course is designed to provoke and cultivate students' imaginative
and critical understanding of literature in various cultural contexts.
Texts (in poetry, drama, fiction and/or creative nonfiction) will vary
by section. Each section will examine compelling themes, styles and cultural
arguments within their literary, historiacl and philosophical contexts.
This writing-intensive course is designed to immerse students in the practices
of reading, analysis, research, academic writing and creative thinking.
Spring 2009 English 205 Literature and Culture: Literature and Gender - Professor S. Arnold
This particular section of ENGL 205 focuses on the theme of gender in literature. Through readings, class discussions, presentations and writings, students will develop an awareness of the links between culture, literature and the construction of gender; examine literary portrayals of gendered relationships in various cultural contexts; and identify and interrogate definitions of masculinity and femininity.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Antiestablishment Literature - Professor J. Johnson
In this course, we will explore the themes of dissent and nonconformity as they are represented in several different literary genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and film). Of the many topics under the discussion are the following: 1. How are dissent and nonconformity portrayed in each text? 2. Is dissent regarded as a public good or a public evil? 3. Do these texts address our own society/civilization in any significant way, and if so, do they condemn or praise it? 4. Are these texts valuable, or are they simply dangerous? That is to say, do they have the potential to cause more harm than good?
English 205 Literature and Culture: Lost and Found - Professor C. Port
Over the course of a life, an individual is likely to lose many things: treasured objects, beloved people, memories, even beliefs and ideas. In this course, we will read literary works that depict various circumstances of loss and consider methods of mourning and possibilities for restitution or compensation. We’ll read about how others have confronted—and tried to overcome—losses both trivial and devastating, and we’ll consider what role reading, writing, and remembering might play in responding to loss. Readings are likely to address objects and property, war, natural disaster, family, romantic love, and death. Be prepared to read a lot of novels for this class. Texts are likely to include Virginia Woolf’s To the Lighthouse, Jamaica Kincaid’s My Brother, Hakuri Murakami’s After the Quake, Nicole Krauss’s The History of Love, Jonathan Safran Foer’s Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close, Jeanette WInterson’s Sexing the Cherry, and others.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Identity - Professor S. McCartney
This course examines identity - how we see ourselves and how others see us - and how this is portrayed in select literature, with a particular interest in hybrid identities. When people fall into multiple categories, especially if their respective expectations compete - which wins? To what extent is their experience as one a function of their other experience as another? In this class, we focus on the types of identity that seem to be at issue here in South Carolina: ethnicity/race, religion, sexual orientation. One could argue gender identity is inextricably linked to the last of these, and class effects have long been observed as having correlates here. Consider those who identify as members of different classes. How do they see themselves? How do others see them? What pressures are there to sacrifice one identity for the other? How accurate are the labels?
English 205 Literature and Culture: Literature of India - Professor J. Sessoms
This course explores the culture of India as reflected in works by both native and non-native writers. Texts include The Bhagavad Gita, The God of Small Things, A Passage to India, The Space Between Us, Interpreter of Maladies, and others. Excerpts from films, such as Ghandi and Water, will be included.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Love, Honor, Duty in the Ancient World - Professor C. Osborne
This course introduces students to a variety of ancient cultures through representative literary works within the eastern and western classical traditions. Literature from Greece, China, India, and Japan will be highlighted.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Introduction to Literature and the Environment - Professor A. Hooker
In this course, we will explore the vital relationship between American literature and environmental values, asking how changing literary interpretations of the land have influenced attitudes toward nonhuman nature. Why have American authors been so consistently concerned with and inspired by the idea of wilderness? How did our culture move from the Puritan notion of howling wilderness to the Transcendentalist vision of divine nature to contemporary nature writers' concern with imperiled ecosystems, and what literary interpretations of nature will be likely in the future? After devoting two weeks to environmental themes in the work of seventeenth and eighteenth-century writers, the course will be devoted to a survey of nineteenth and twentieth-century authors whose work is deeply concerned with the environmental values which mediate the relationship between human and nonhuman nature. We will consider related issues such as the role of natural history in the development of American literary form, the evolution of the nature essay as a genre, the place of environmental literature in the canon, the role of nature writing as a form of environmental activism, and the relationship between natural science, natural history, and environmental literature. As we explore such issues, we will also examine the merit of environmental literature as a historical, scientific, political, and literary form.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Choice and Destiny - Professor D. Albergotti
Are you in control of your life? Do you direct it with your choices? Or is your life guided by a force beyond yourself? Do you have a set path, a destiny? People have contemplated these questions in philosophy and art from the beginnings of human culture. In this course, we will study a variety of texts that address this theme spanning from the 5th century BC to 1999. We will read Sophocles’ Oedipus the King, Shakespeare’s Hamlet, poems and letters of John Keats, Camus’s The Stranger, short stories by Flannery O’Connor, Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange, and poems by Jack Gilbert. A final “text” for the course is Alan Ball and Sam Mendes’s film American Beauty.
Fall 2008 English 205 Literature and Culture: Antiestablishment Literature - Professor J. Johnson
In this course, we will explore the themes of dissent and nonconformity as they are represented in several different literary genres (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, and film). Of the many topics under the discussion are the following: 1. How are dissent and nonconformity portrayed in each text? 2. Is dissent regarded as a public good or a public evil? 3. Do these texts address our own society/civilization in any significant way, and if so, do they condemn or praise it? 4. Are these texts valuable, or are they simply dangerous? That is to say, do they have the potential to cause more harm than good?
English 205 Literature and Culture: Food, Literature and Culture - Professor R. Hamill
Culture is a symbolic framework that directs our behavior and is perpetuated by ritual and tradition. No where is this more evident than in how we eat and how we tell stories.
Both are highly ritualized behaviors that hold a culture together. Food in literature is highly symbolic. It is a powerful identity marker in terms of class, gender, and culture. Food in literature reveals more about culture not only through the symbolic value of the food itself, but in the preparation, rituals, and celebrations of the family and community that surround it. Food establishes the strong communal bond within a culture. How it does this how it and symbolically informs our reading are the questions taken up in this course. Readings will include Isak Dennison's Babette's Feast, Laura Esquevel's Like Water for Chocolate, Ernest Hemingway's Hunger Was Good Discipline, Cara De Silva's In Memories Kitchen.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Lost and Found
- Professor C. Port
Over the course of a life, an individual is likely to lose many things:
treasured objects, beloved people, memories, even beliefs and ideas. In this course, we will read literary works that depict various circumstances of loss and consider methods of mourning and possibilities for restitution or
compensation. We'll read about how others have confronted—and tried to
overcome—losses both trivial and devastating, and we will consider how reading,
writing, and remembering might play in responding to loss. Readings are likely
to address objects and property, war, natural disaster, family, romantic love, and death. Texts are likely to include Virginia Woolf's To the Lighthouse, Tony Kushner's Angels in America, Jamaica Kincaid's Autobiography of My Mother, Hakuri Murakami's After the Quake, Charlotte Delbo's Auschwitz and After, Nicole Krauss's, The History of Love, Orson Welles's Citizen Kane and others.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Hyphenated Americans & Intersecting Identities - Professor S. McCartney
What does it mean to be an African America, a Native American, a Jewish American or a gay/lesbian American? We all know what the words mean, but what is this experience - the experience of being a subculture? We're all "Americans" - but are we really? This course examines select pieces of literature that deal with identity within
specific subcultures in America with extra attention to self-doubt and self-hate. Authors include Langston Hughes
and Richard Wright; Louise Erdrich and Sherman Alexiee; James Baldwin (Giovanni's Room); Craig S. Womack (Drowning in Fire);
and Sandi Simcha DuBowski (Trembling Before G-d).
Spring 2008 English 205 Literature and Culture: The Natural World - Professor
C. Saunders
"Language comes from a place," said poet Quincy Troupe; in this course,
we will examine literary works that connect deeply with a geographical
place - island, seashore, fores, desert, mountains, grasslands, ocean,
tropics, snow-covered tundra. Planned readings include John Steinbeck's
The Grapes of Wrath, Federico Garcia Lorca's Blood Wedding,
Annie Dillard's Pilgrim at Tinker Creek and a wide assortment
of shorter stories, poems and creative nonfiction.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Choice and Destiny - Professor
D. Albergotti
Are you in control of your life? Do you direct it with your choices?
Or is your life guided by a force beyond yourself? People have contemplated
these questions in philosophy and art from the beginnings of human culture.
In this course, we will study a variety of texts that address this theme
spanning from the 5th century BC to 1999. We will read Sophocles' Oedipus
the King, Shakespeare's Hamlet, poems and letter of John
Keats, Camus' The Stranger, short stories by Flannery O'Connor,
Burgess' A Clockwork Orange and poems by Jack Gilbert. A final
"text" for the course is Alan Ball and Sam Mendes' film American
Beauty.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Coming of Age Across Cultures
- Professor C. Port
Interested in learning about other cultures? In this course, you'll
read novels and view films about individuals in Africa, the Caribbean,
Ireland and elsewhere. We'll explore how characters negotiate the challenges
of personal development within these various political and cultural
circumstances and explore the relevance of family, community and nation
on the development of identity.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Eco-Lit - Professor A. Hooker
In this course, we will explore the vital relationship between American
literature and environmental values, asking how changing literary
interpretations of the land have influenced attitudes toward nonhuman
nature. Why have American authors been so consistently concerned with
and inspired by the idea of wilderness? How did our culture move from the Puritan notion of howling
wilderness to the Transcendentalist vision of divine nature to contemporary nature writers' concern with
imperiled ecosystems, and what literary interpretations of nature will be likely in the future?
After devoting two weeks to environmental themes in the work of seventeenth and eighteenth-century writers,
the course will be devoted to a survey of nineteenth and twentieth-century authors whose work is
deeply concerned with the environmental values which mediate the relationship between human and nonhuman
nature. We will consider related issues such as the role of natural history in the development of American
literary form, the evolution of the nature essay as a genre, the place of environmental literature in the
canon, the role of nature writing as a form of environmental activism, and the relationship between natural
science, natural history, and environmental literature. As we explore such issues, we will also examine
the merit of environmental literature as a historical, scientific, political and literary form.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Literature and Gender - Professor E. Arnold
This particular section of ENGL 205 focuses on the theme of gender in poetry, fiction, nonfiction and
drama. Through readings, class discussions, presentations and writings, students will develop an
awareness of the links between culture, literature and the construction of gender; examine literary
portrayals of gendered relationships in various cultural contexts; and identify and interrogate definitions
of masculinity and femininity.
English 205 Literature and Culture: Hyphenated Americans & Intersecting Identities - Professor S. McCartney
What does it mean to be an African America, a Native American, a Jewish American or a gay/lesbian American? We all know what the words mean, but what is this experience - the experience of being a subculture? We're all "Americans" - but are we really? This course examines select pieces of literature that deal with identity within
specific subcultures in America with extra attention to self-doubt and self-hate. Authors include Langston Hughes
and Richard Wright; Louise Erdrich and Sherman Alexiee; James Baldwin (Giovanni's Room); Craig S. Womack (Drowning in Fire);
and Sandi Simcha DuBowski (Trembling Before G-d).
ENGL 211 Introduction to Technical Writing.
(3)
A practical introduction to principal types and forms of technical writing,
including description of a mechanism, process, analysis, definition, the
proposal and both written and oral presentation techniques.
ENGL 275 Masterpieces of World Literature
I. (3)
(Writing Intensive) (Prereq: Satisfactory completion of English 101 and
102). Selected readings of Western and non-Western literature from antiquity
to the Renaissance. Students write primarily analytical essays. Some research
is required. All readings are in English. F, S, Su.
ENGL 276 Masterpieces of World Literature
II. (3)
(Writing Intensive) (Prereq: Satisfactory completion of English 101 and
102). Selected readings of Western and non-Western literature from the
Renaissance to modern times. Students write primarily analytical essays.
Some research is required. All readings are in English. F, S, Su.
ENGL 277 Literature in Translation. (3)
This course is designed to introduce students to works of literature in
translation from the Eastern and/or Western literary and intellectual
traditions. Drawing from a variety of texts, genres and formats, each
section will examine issues of cultural interation and translation, emphasizing
the signifigance of cross-cultural dialogue and transfer of ideas between
world cultures, historical periods and/or literary movements.
Fall 2008 English 277 Literature in Translation: Literature and Death - Professor N. Irei
It is often said that literature is about life experiences. Yet, what does this mean when it comes to death—something yet unexperienced for both the writer and the reader? We will read texts from the Eastern and Western traditions to consider how literary language may at times articulate more than just challenges to our fear of death but rather an affirmation of both life and death. The course will be attentive to differences in the way various cultures relate to death. Possible texts include Kafka's short stories, Mishima's Patriotism, Chikamatsu's Love Suicides of Sonezaki, and selections from the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Tao Te Ching, Manyoshu, Vallejo and Rumi.
ENGL 287 Major Writers of American Literature.
(3)
(Writing Intensive) (Prereq: Satisfactory completion of English 101 and
102). Extensive reading in the works of the major writers of American
literature. Writers are studied with reference to background, school,
technique, and philosophy. Some research is required. F, S, Su.
ENGL 288 Major Writers of British Literature.
(3)
(Writing Intensive) (Prereq: Satisfactory completion of English 101 and
102). Selected readings in the works of major authors of Great Britain
and Ireland. The works represent a variety of eras. Students write primarily
analytical essays. Some research is required. F, S, Su.
ENGL 300 Critical Conversations
in English. (3)
A seminar designed for newly-declared English majors, this course empasized
critical thinking, analytical writing and textual analysis as the foundations
of success in the major. Texts - connected by generic, thematic or historical
factors - will vary based on faculty expertise, but will be the means
to introduce students to some of the research methodologies, critical
"conversations" and professional factors that are central concerns in
the discipline. This course is required for all English majors.
Spring 2009 English 300M Critical Conversations in English: The Neo-Victorian Novel - Professor M. Bachman
This course will analyze the postmodern novel's interventions in a range of Victorian cultural discourses and will consider how such interventions problematize the relationship between literature and history.
English 300N Critical Conversations in English: Post-Colonial Australian Literature - Professor S. Stewart
This course will explore the literary history of Australia, focusing not only on works by Booker and Nobel Prize-winning authors, but also on how post-colonial theory illuminates the works of Australians as they negotiate a shared history with England and a unique convict/settler past. Students will read novels and theoretical texts and hone their research skills while writing research- and theory-based essays.
Fall 2008 English 300E Critical Conversations in English: Byron, Shelley and Keats: Second Generation British Romantics - Professor P. Lecouras
When Byron died in Greece in 1824, he was among the most famous men in Europe. His good friend, Shelley, died relatively unknown two years earlier. Keats died of tuberculosis in 1821, having exceeding even Shakespeare's accomplishments at the same age. The poetry and lives of Byron, Shelley and Keats will be the focus of this course, as well as the close connection between the poet and the poems. These three poets provide an opportunity to enquire into the structure and form of the ode, sonnet, pastoral elegy, as well as a variety of satirical modes. Students will explore these poets ideas about poetic creation and the course will address the relationship of the work of these poets to the history of the period, notably the French Revolution and its aftermath and Romantic Hellenism. Students will be asked to write papers on specific poems, historical events or isolated events in a poet's life, utilizing MLA documentation and established research methods. Students will learn to find out what poems say by establishing their moral and aesthetic implications. One basic question regarding “critical conversations” will be asked throughout the semester: who has the greater say in establishing the significance of the poem, its author or its reader?
English 300E Critical Conversations in English: Popular Fiction - Professor C. Osborne
What makes popular fiction popular? Why do we find pleasure in reading these texts? How are the various genres (detective, hard-boiled crime, western, romance, horror, fantasy, science fiction, and thriller) structured, and what cultural viewpoints do these formulas reinforce? As we read and discuss samples of each genre, including works by Agatha Christie, Raymond Chandler, Louis L'Amour, Stephen King, J.R.R. Tolkein, and Octavia Butler, we will be looking at the texts through the critical lenses of literary theory, including psychoanalytic, feminist, Marxist, and structuralist approaches. We will also use this study of popular fiction to raise questions about authorship, readership, literary value, and the mass marketing strategies used to sell these texts.
Spring 2008 English 300E Critical Conversations in English: New Approaches to Modernism - Professor
C. Port
The early decades of the twentieth century saw dramatic changes in social conditions and in cultural forms that have been generating lively debate among scholars in recent years.
In this course, we will consider some examples of modernist literature (1890-1945), learn how earlier critics defined modernism as a movement and explore some of the questions posed by contemporary scholars about this significant period in literary and cultural history. Some topics we will consider include the emergence of a consumer economy; developments in science and technology; evolving perceptions of gender, sexuality and subjectivity; the implications of imperialism and trans-national influence; the growth of cities; and the expansion of popular culture. Texts may include Forester's Howard's End, Eliot's The Waste Land, Rhys's Good Morning, Midnight and the poetry of Langston Hughes. We will also look at visual art, advertisements and literary journals from the modernist period as we discuss how contemporary scholars are try to answer the big question: "What was modernism?".
ENGL 301 Creative Writing
Workshop
A course that explores and develops the fundamentals of composing poetry,
fiction and creative nonfiction using a combination of example readings
and writing workshops.
ENGL 302 The Renaissance. (3)
A survey of English literature of the Sixteenth Century from Thomas More's
Utopia to William Shakespeare's comedies and histories.
ENGL 303 British Literature I. (3)
A survey of representative works illustrating the development of British literature from its beginnings through the eighteenth century, with an emphasis on major literary movements understood in relation to their intellectual, social, and political contexts.
ENGL 304 British Literature II. (3)
A survey of representative works illustrating the development of British literature from the late eighteenth century to the present, with an emphasis on major literary movements understood in relation to their intellectual, social, and political contexts.
ENGL 305 American Literature I. (3)
A survey of representative works illustrating the development of American
literature from its beginnings through the mid-nineteenth century with
an emphasis on major literary movements understood in relation to their
intellectual, social and political contexts.
ENGL 306 American Literature II. (3)
A survey of representative works illustrating the development of American literature from the mid-nineteenth century to the present, with an emphasis on major literary movements understood in relation to their intellectual, social, and political contexts.
ENGL 307 The Age of Chaucer. (3)
Masterpieces of fourteenth-century poetry and drama, including Pearl,
Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, and works of the Wakefield Master. About
one-third of the course is devoted to works of Chaucer not read in English
401.
ENGL 308 Seventeenth-Century British Literature.
(3)
A study of the major English poets, dramatists, and prose writers of the
Seventeenth Century.314 Eighteenth-Century British Literature. (3) A historical
and critical study of the prose and poetry of the principal Eighteenth-Century
writers. Emphasis on the works of Dryden, Defoe, Pope, Swift, and others.
ENGL 310 Philosophical Themes in Literature
(=PHIL 310). (3)
Selected philosophical problems as they are presented in imaginative and
theoretical literature. Works of fiction and philosophical treatments
of issues involved in them will be read and discussed.
ENGL 315 The British Novel I. (3)
A survey of the British novel from the beginning through the early Victorian
era.
ENGL 316 The British Novel II. (3)
A survey of the British novel from the mid-Victorian era to the present.
ENGL 317 The Romantic Age. (3)
A study of the Eighteenth-Century transition from Classicism to Romanticism
and of major Romantic writers.
ENGL 318 The Victorian Age. (3)
(Writing Intensive) A study of major mid- and late- Nineteenth-Century
British writers, including Hardy, George Eliot, Dickens, Tennyson, the
Brownings, and others.
ENGL 322 Latin American Literature in
Translation. (3) (= Spanish 322)
(Writing Intensive) Selected readings of Latin American Literature in
translation. Students write primary critical essays. All readings are
in English. Even Years.
ENGL 323 Modern British and Irish Literature.
(3)
A study of the works of British and Irish writers from the turn of the
Twentieth Century to 1945.
ENGL 325 Colonial and Revolutionary American
Literature. (3)
A study of early American literature with emphasis on the religious, philosophical,
social, and political aspects.
ENGL 326 American Literature 1800-1865.
(3)
A reading of representative works of Poe, Hawthorne, Melville, Emerson,
Thoreau, Whitman, Dickinson, and other writers of the period.
ENGL 327 American Literature 1860-1910.
(3)
A study of American literature from the Civil War to the early Twentieth
Century. Emphasis on the changing attitudes reflected in the works of
writers of this period.
ENGL 328 Modern American Writers. (3) (Writing
Intensive)
A study of the works of American writers in the first half of the Twentieth
Century.
ENGL 329 Autobiographies, Journals, and
Memoirs. (3)
(Prereq: one sophomore -level literature course) (Writing Intensive) A
study of selected Eighteenth-, Nineteenth-, and Twentieth-Century autobiographical
writing in English. Students read selected Eighteenth- and Nineteenth-Century
autobiographies, journals, and memoirs and explore the ways in which recent
writers (in particular women and minorities) have challenged and revised
the conventions of this genre. Students are required to produce some autobiographical
writing.
ENGL 333 The American Novel. (3)
A study of selected American novels.
ENGL 336 Contemporary American Literature.
(3)
(Writing Intensive) A study of the literary trends in America from 1945
to the present.
ENGL 341 African-American Literature, 1750-present.
(3)
A survey of Nineteenth and Twentieth-Century literature. Emphasis on the
classic works of Frederick Douglass, Charles Chesnutt, Zora Neale Hurston,
Toni Morrison, and Ralph Ellison.
ENGL 350 Language Variation in North America.
(3)
Why isn't English spoken the same throughout North America? What are the
speech features that make one English variety different from another?
Do men and women have language differences? What assumptions do listeners
make about a speaker based on just a few words? This course covers social,
regional, ethnic, gender and style-related language variation among English
speakers in the United States and Canada. We will also explore issues
of perceptions and attitude as reflected in evaluations of language varieties
and the speakers of those varieties.
ENGL 361 Writing Workshop: Song Writing.
(3)
In the songwriting course, students will write lyrics, participate in
lyric-writing workshops and peer reviews, learn about the lives and works
of famous songwriters and write critical responses and analyses of songs.
Singing and instrument-playing abailities are certainly helpful, but not
absolutely required. Creative ability and intensity of focus are a must!
Also, students in this course need to know how to take constructive criticism
well.
ENGL 365 Reading and Writing Creative Nonfiction. (3)
A reading and writing course designed to help students learn the elements of craft in creative nonfiction writing. Through the careful analysis of work by authors such as David Sedaris, Jamaica Kincaid, David Foster Wallace, and Annie Dillard, students’ critical awareness will be challenged and enhanced. In addition to dissecting the construction of contemporary literary nonfiction, students will write their own original pieces and participate in peer-centered workshops.
ENGL 368 Reading and Writing Poetry. (3)
This course is designed to improve students' abilities to read and write
poetry. The first half of the course focuses on reading poetry in order
to understand the craft of its author. The second half of the course is
a poetry workshop in which students develop their abilities writing in
the genre.
ENGL 371 Literature and the Absurd: East/West Intersections. (3)
According to Camus, the "Absurd" indicates a disharmony between an irrational world and the desire nevertheless to make sense of that world. Is the “Absurd” merely a label for works that defy interpretation? Could the Absurd be a specifically modern philosophical notion of the West? We will read various works (from the East and West) which depict the irrational world but also help us to consider literature as the possibility of facing the Absurd without escaping the irrational world through the notion of "hope." Our point of departure will be Camus' Myth of Sisyphus; other possible texts include Mishima's Madame de Sade, Abe's Woman of the Dunes, Tanizaki's short stories, Kafka's The Trial, Melville's Moby Dick, Dostoevsky's The Possessed, Beckett's Happy Days and selections from Artaud's essays.
ENGL 375 Special Topics in World and Anglophone Literature: Postcolonial Currents. (3)
The disintegration of European empires was of crucial political and cultural significance in the twentieth century, and its consequences continue to reverberate throughout contemporary culture. In this course, we will study the work of twentieth- and twenty-first-century writers from former British colonies including southern Africa, South Asia, the Caribbean, and Ireland.
These works tell stories rooted in local experience, revise imperial narratives, challenge assumptions about identity and otherness, and scrutinize the politics of language. In addition to considering novels, plays, and film, we will read some theoretical essays and contemporary criticism.
ENGL 380 Studies in World Film. (3) (=
Spanish 380, Theater 380)
This course is a survey of world film with an emphasis on Hispanic cinema.
It provides a general introduction to contemporary film-critical discourses
which are currently under the rubric of film semiotics. Key elements of
the language of cinema are studied with the goal of developing both critical
and creative skills.
ENGL 381 Modern British and American Drama.
(3) (=Theater 381)
A critical and historical survey of the development of British and American
drama from the eighteenth century to the present. Possible authors include
Sheridan, Wilde, Shaw, Pinter, Miller, Williams, Hansberry, and Mamet.
ENGL 382 Contemporary Fiction. (3)
A study of new fiction in English and other languages (in translation).386
Contemporary Poetry. (3) A study of the poetry of a variety of contemporary
American and British poets.
ENGL 390 Business and Professional Communication.(3)
(Writing Intensive)(Prereq: junior or senior standing) Designed to improve
practical communication, both written and oral. Students learn business
style and formats (the letter, memo, resume, and report), as well as strategies
for presenting neutral, negative, and persuasive messages. Students will
speak on business or professional topics.
ENGL 399 Independent Study. (3)
(Prereq: written contract between student and instructor, approved by
adviser, Chair of the English Department, and Associate Dean of Humanities
and Fine Arts. Approval must be gained by the end of the semester that
precedes the semester in which the independent study is undertaken.) A
maximum of 12 credit hours of 399 may be applied to a B.A. degree. Courses
numbered 399 may not be used to fulfill requirements for core curriculum
or English core (Major). May be repeated for credit under different topics.
ENGL 401 Chaucer. (3)
A study of Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, with some attention to his other
major works.
ENGL 405 Studies in Shakespeare's
Tragedies. (3)
(Writing Intensive) A study of Shakespeare's tragedies.
ENGL 406 Studies in Shakespeare's
Comedies and Histories. (3)
(Writing Intensive) A study of Shakespeare's comedies and histories.
ENGL 407 Libraries in the Information Age. (3)
In this course, students will explore the variety of career paths available in the field of Library and Information Science. They will also be exposed to current issues and trends in today’s libraries, expand their knowledge of effective research concepts and methods, and develop advanced research skills through in-depth use of subject-specific databases and resources.
ENGL 409 Theories of Gender and Sexuality. (3)
In this course, we will explore theories that have contributed to current debates about representations of men and women, constructions of femininity and masculinity, and the implications of sexuality. Areas of inquiry will include feminist theory, queer theory, and theories of masculinity, and we will apply these theories to the analysis of literary texts. Over the course of the semester we will consider the intersections of gender with race, class, age, and nationality as we examine the role of reading and writing in our understanding of gender and sexuality.
ENGL 411 English Capstone. (3)
This class provides a forum for both reflection upon and assessment of
the student's experience in the major. Readings and writing assignments
will focus on the discipline of English in a postgraduate context, the
professional potential of the English degree, portfolio construction and
revision of existing writings for publication. The course will also include
an orientation to and the administration of the English Major Assessment
Exam as well as the opportunity for an exit interview.
ENGL 424 Studies in British Literature.
(3)
Intensive study of topics selected by the professor teaching the course.
May be repeated with the approval of the department chair. May be repeated
for credit under different topics.
ENGL 425 World Dramatic Literature. (3)
(=Theater 425)
A critical and historical survey of the cardinal works of dramatic literature
across the epochs of theatrical performance. The course accents analysis
and interpretation.
ENGL 426 Major American Poets. (3)
(Writing Intensive) A study of the poetry of a variety of transitional
and modern American poets, such as Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson, Robert
Frost, and T.S. Eliot.
ENGL 427 Studies in Southern Literature.
(3)
A critical study of the Twentieth-Century Southern literary tradition.
The course examines regional interests shaping the emergence of a Southern
literature and the distinctive characteristics of the literature, focusing
especially on the writings of William Faulkner, Flannery O'Connor,
Tennessee Williams, Robert Penn Warren, and Walker Percy.
ENGL 443 Studies in Women Writers. (3)
A study of selected works of Western and non-Western women writers.
ENGL 444 Women Writers of the South. (3)
A study of literature by Southern women writers from the pre-Civil war
era through the present. Includes an examination of the historical and
cultural conditions which affect the work of women writers.
ENGL 451 Introduction to the Study of Language
and Modern Grammar. (3)
An introduction to the general principles concerning the design and function
of human language, and an overview of the history of grammar with emphasis
upon modern grammatical theory. Illustrative material is drawn from the
English language, modern European languages, and others. F.
ENGL 453 Development of the English Language.
(3)
A study of the origins and development of languages in general, and of
English and related languages in particular. No previous knowledge of
Old and Middle English necessary. S.
ENGL 454 Psycholinguistics. (3) (= Psychology
402)
(Prereq: junior or senior status) A survey of selected aspects of the
field focusing on the cognitive and behavioral foundations of child and
adult language acquisition. Other topics may include developmental and
catastrophic language disorders, neurolinguistics, and the language-thought
interaction.
ENGL 459 Advanced Composition and Rhetoric.
(3)
(Writing Intensive) Writing that involves different aims, types, and audiences.
Students learn theory about composition, rhetoric, and reading. Students
also read examples, do library research, and review grammar, punctuation,
and editing.
ENGL 462 Writing Workshop-Fiction. (3)
(Prereq: Permission of the instructor) A workshop course in the writing
of prose fiction. Students have the opportunity to have their works read
and criticized by a group of fellow writers.
ENGL 468 Writing Workshop-Poetry. (3)
A workshop course in the writing of poetry. Students learn the craft of
poetry, have their poems discussed in a workshop setting, and are guided
in the preparation and submission of manuscripts for publication.
ENGL 470 Early British Drama. (3)
A study of the development of the religious drama in Western Europe and
in medieval England, and of the British drama of the Sixteenth Century.
ENGL 480 Special Topics in Technical Communications.
(3)
(Prereq: Completion of English 210 and English 211, with a B or above
and English 212 and Arts 201; Junior standing) An intensive workshop focusing
on a specific topic in technical communication. Topics will vary and may
include Computer Documentation (hardware and software, including user
guides, reference manuals, quick reference guides, tutorials, and online
documentation); Grant/Proposal Writing; Scientific/Medical Writing; Hypermedia
authoring. May be repeated for academic credit. F.
ENGL 483 Theory of Literary Criticism.
(3)
A study of various theories of literary criticism as applied to the major
genres (fiction, poetry, and drama) with the aim of establishing standards
of judgment.
ENGL 484 Children's Literature. (3)
An extensive study of works appropriate for the elementary and middle
school child. Required of all students specializing in Early Childhood
and Elementary Education.
ENGL 485 Adolescent Literature. (3)
An extensive study of works appropriate for the adolescent. Required of
all Secondary English Education students.
ENGL 488 Studies in World Literature. (3)
Intensive study of topics selected by the professor teaching this course.
May be repeated and used for English credit with approval of the department
chair.
Fall 2008 ENGL 488H Studies in World Literature: The Holocaust in Literature, Film and History - Professor J. Sessoms
A study of the Holocaust as depicted in historical documents, literature, and film. The events of the Holocaust are viewed from the perspectives of bystanders, perpetrators, victims, and rescuers. Texts include Art Spiegelman's Maus I and II, Ellie Wiesel's Night, and Bernhard Schlink's The Reader; films include Night and Fog, Schindler's List, Triumph of the Will, and Downfall. Historical documents will also be examined. Pending funding, course will include a trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. Open to all students; preference given to juniors and seniors.
Spring 2008 ENGL 488K Studies in World Literature: Cross-Cultural Study of the Confessional
Mode: East v. West - Professor N. Irei
In the Spring 2008 semester, students will read a wide variety of texts
from both Western and non-Western traditions to see what happens in
the language of "confession." Does confession hold a different status
in the "East" than in the "West?" Readingw will include Kafka's short
stories, Mishima's Sun and Steel, Dostoevsky's Notes from
the Underground,Endo's Silence and Rilke's Notebooks of
Malte Laurdis Brigge.
ENGL 489 Gender and Sexuality in Cinema Anime and Manga. (3)
This course explores the ways writers, manga artists, and anime filmmakers have interpreted and represented men's and women's relationships towards themselves, their bodies, and social constructions of gender and power in Japan and East Asia. The course content draws from a wide range of manga genres and feature-length anime films and explores psycho-dynamic and provoking juxtapositions of relational boundaries. We will also investigate and interrogate the origins and transformations of (dominant) images and ideals of femininity and masculinity, engaging modern and contemporary Japan and East Asia in an implicit dialogue with contemporary American popular culture.
ENGL 490 Internship in Technical and Professional
Writing. (3)
(Prereq: Completion of English 210 and English 211 with a B or above and
Arts 201 and English 212; Junior standing) Supervised technical communication
work in industry, science, government, or business. Enrollment requires
a proposal and approval of English Department faculty. Portfolio and report
required. F.
ENGL 495 Internship for English Majors.
(3)
Students will receive instruction and gain professional experience in
an internship while working at least 10 hours per week with a local business
or organization. Course contract must be approved prior to registration.
ENGL 496 Senior Thesis in
English. (3)
Students will design and execute an original research project with guidance,
support and oversight of the class instructor. Students are encouraged
to choose a research mentor from among the full-time faculty in the Department
of English, but the final evaluation of the project is the responsibility
of the course instructor. Students will publicly present their projects
at the conclusion of the course.
ENGL 499 Studies in American Literature.
(3)
Intensive study of topics selected by the professor teaching the course.
May be repeated with the approval of the department chair.
